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Maybe we should not be too surprised. Maybe we should have seen it coming. Incredible as it seems, it is now a shocking reality. What people would have thought impossible not so long ago is now coming to pass. While not actually new on the scene, it is relatively new to America. What is it? The answer is Chrislam!

Christian and Muslim leaders have been meeting together for months to work on mixing together Christianity and Islam into one religion. They are trying to form an ecumenical merger of these two opposing creeds into a new and strange partnership. And they are giving it the combination name of “Chrislam.”

It is incredibly true that some well-known Christian leaders are encouraging Christian pastors across America to embrace this ecumenical concept of combining Christianity and Islam. The conservative Christian Coalition newsletter reports that already some 130 Christian leaders in 22 states have revealed their involvement. They are falsely declaring that Christians and Muslims worship the same God, and they are ridiculously claiming that Christianity and Islam are both peaceful, monotheistic religions with similar beliefs and values. This is a lie straight from the great deceiver himself. Islam and Christianity are exact opposites. Just as water and oil do not mix, it is impossible for Christianity and Islam to mix. The Bible calls on Christians to seek peace and love their neighbor. Islam calls on its followers to kill all who will not convert to Allah’s teachings. In other words, fundamental, Koran believing Muslims believe everyone must convert to Islam or die.

Informed Christians and Jews know that Allah was an Arab moon god whose name Mohammed elevated to be the name of Islam’s highest power. That is why the crescent moon and a star are on the Islamic flag and on Islamic houses of worship. Informed people know that fundamentalist Muslim clerics have loudly and clearly declared jihad, or holy war, against all infidels ― that is, all non-Muslims of the world. And informed people know that the Koran says that by killing an infidel, a Muslim is assured of a place in heaven. We must stand against the evil spirit of Islam which says all who love the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob must be eliminated. This is extremely problematic and a real stumbling block when it comes to forming friendships or cooperative relationships with those of the Islamic faith.

In an article dated January 22, 2011 written by Debra Rae in NewsWithViews.com, she reports that Memorial Drive Presbyterian church in Houston, Texas has joined with other Presbyterian churches in Atlanta, Seattle and Detroit to encourage ecumenical reconciliation between Christianity and Islam. In the article she said, “Theirs was a celebration of a worldview potpourri mixing together elements of Christianity and Islam.” In her article, part 6 of the “Lost Art of Critical Thinking,” Ms. Rae went on to reveal that these churches have declared the Bible and the Koran to be of equal authenticity as sacred texts and even placed copies of the Koran in the pews next to the Bibles. Ms. Rae points out that some Christian supporters of Chrislam believe that “if American tolerance of ‛Chrislam’ were rejected, then the ongoing conflict between East and West would escalate beyond repair. This slippery-slope fallacy presumes a sort of chain reaction, destined to end with dire consequences that otherwise might have been averted.” In other words, it would be purely the Christians’ fault for not joining hands with those of the Islamic faith.

The Bible clearly states that Christians are to be ‘in the world but not of the world.’ Furthermore, we are to be salt and light to the world. We are warned against losing our saltiness which means losing our flavor. If we seek to “blend” with society and the un-Christian practices of those around us, then we have lost our saltiness and our ability to shine. Christian leaders who are embracing “Chrislam” and encouraging others to do the same are literally playing with fire. Have they not studied their Bibles? Are they hearing and believing the voice of the serpent in the Garden of Eden when he enticed Eve to be disobedient by saying, “Surely thou shalt not die?”

What does any of this have to do with Israel? By now we all know that the heart and soul of Islam is to see all Christians and Jews removed from the face of the earth. If proponents of Chrislam are successful in recruiting numbers of people who call themselves Christians, then not only will the Muslims want to see Israel and all Jews annihilated, the Chrislamists will also become of part of this evil, anti-Semitic force. Chrislam is apostasy and anyone who buys into this false concept is on a very slippery slope. The Bible teaches that the Jews are God’s chosen people therefore we, as Christians, are to love the Jews. What does Islam, or Chrislam, say about this?

Dozens of Christian churches, from Park Hill Congregational in Denver to Hillview United Methodist in Boise, Idaho, and First United Lutheran in San Francisco to St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church in Honolulu, are planning to send "a message both here at home and to the Arab and Muslim world about our respect for Islam" with a time to read the Quran during worship this Sunday.

It's not just wrong, but dangerous, according to Christian trends analysts.

The aim of the program, which is promoted by social activists behind the Faith Shared website, is to counter the message from Islamic activists who say opposition to their religion is the product of what they call a cottage industry of hate.

So the Interfaith Alliance and Human Rights First is calling on Christian clergy to read portions of the Quran during their services Sunday.

The readings, supporters say, will "counter the anti-Muslim bigotry and negative stereotypes that have erupted throughout the country in the past year and led to misconceptions, distrust and in some cases, violence."

Not so fast, says apprising.org religious trends analyst Ken Silva.

"I would think they need to have their spiritual heads examined. It's foolish to think that we're going to read something that originates with demons and read that in a Christian church," Silva said.

The action amounts to "spiritual treason," he asserted.

Pastors of participating churches declined to discuss their programs with WND.

But Silva said, "Second Corinthians 6:14-18 (the verse warning against partnering light with darkness) says we're forbidden to do that kind of thing. It's one thing to be friendly with someone in Islam, but it's a whole other thing in a Christian community to be reading something that is antithetical to Christianity and is hostile to Jesus Christ himself."

Silva isn't the only analyst who has objections to the program. Worldview Weekend President Brannon Howse said he's not surprised with the development.

"I expect that of the mainline churches. Many of them have denied the essential Christian doctrines," Howse said. "They have denied the exclusivity of Jesus Christ. They have denied the inerrancy of Scripture; they've denied the inspiration of Scripture. So I'm not shocked that pagans would united with pagans."

His critique of what he sees as the failure of the mainline churches grew more severe.

"I'm not shocked that apostates would unite with apostates. I'm not shocked that people who practice the occult of Christian yoga or practice the occultism of contemplative prayer, which is another name for Transcendental Meditation," Howse said.

Howse said he believes Islam is also rooted in the occult.

"I am not shocked that an occultic religion of mainline liberal Christianity would lock arms with the occult of Islam. They're both steeped in the occult and paganism. So I'm not shocked by that at all," Howse said.

Howse also has a word of caution for evangelical Christians.

"If you're an evangelical, you better defend the exclusivity of Jesus Christ and the deity of Jesus Christ, the inspiration of Scripture and the inerrancy of Scripture. If you're not willing to defend that, then you really shouldn't be calling yourself a Christian," Howse said.

The Faith Shared website paints a different picture of the objectives. The site says that tensions between Islam and Christianity have grown in the past year.

"Tensions around Islam in America have erupted throughout the country in the past year, leading to misconceptions, distrust and in some cases violence. News stories on the rising tide of anti-Muslim bigotry and violence abound, with graphic and often searing images of the antagonists, the protagonists and the battlegrounds where they meet," the site said.

"All too often, media coverage simplistically pits Muslims against would-be Quran burners, neglecting any substantive representation of where the majority of Americans actually stand: a shared commitment to tolerance and freedom," the site read.

"We are committed to ensuring that the storyline changes dramatically in 2011 by helping to create an environment of mutual understanding and respect for each other’s faith traditions," the site said.

The Human Rights First site said the group simply wants to fight what members believe is rampant anti-Islamic prejudice.

"Faith Shared seeks to counter the anti-Muslim bigotry and negative stereotypes that have erupted throughout the country in the past year and led to misconceptions, distrust and in some cases, violence," the statement said.

"This countrywide, day-long event will engage faith leaders on the national and community levels in a conversation with their houses of worship, highlighting respect among people of different faiths," the site said.

The sites make those claims despite reports that the actual number of anti-Muslim incidents has gone down in the United States in the past 10 years.

Culture and Media Institute analyst Alana Goodman reports that anti-Muslim actions as a percentage of all anti-religious acts never went above 13 percent of the total number of anti-religious hate crimes.

"Since 2001, hate crimes against Muslims have decreased significantly, according to FBI statistics. After 2002, hate crimes against Muslims have not risen above 13 percent of all anti-religious crimes, and the most recent data from 2008 calculates them at 7.8 percent," Goodman's report stated.

Silva believes the real reason for the Shared Faith event is spiritual emptiness in the country.

"So many Christians talk to each other and they read other Christians rather than read the Scriptures themselves. There's a real move inside our country right now for an ecumenism and a syncretism trying to bring everyone together and it's rooted in contemplative spirituality," Silva observed.

"There's a deception that comes. They're under the impression that God is trying to bring all people together, and bring in God's dream for the world to make the world a better place," Silva continued.

"The Gospel has been changed from repentance and forgiveness of sins in Jesus' name to God wants to make the world a better place, get involved with where He's working and bring about His dream," Silva added.

"It's what Walter Martin would say spiritually obtuse Christians are easy marks for the more militant of the Muslims who are presenting this as some big Islamophobia," Silva said.

"We are not hateful to Muslims, but we are hostile to Islam because it enslaves people. We want people to be free," Silva said.

Howse says his warning to Bible-believing Christians is simple.

"Be aware of these people who have crept in secretly, unnoticed, with destructive heresies. I want to warn the church to be a 'Watchman on the Wall' for the 'Religious Trojan Horse' who is trying to draw people away from the faith," Howse said.

"Some of this deception is going to be so deceitful, so camouflaged, that we're going to be shocked at the Christian leaders who will follow it," Howse said.

WND reported only days earlier on a clash over Islam in Christian ministries.

It happened when Jack Van Impe Ministries launched a campaign to expose what it views as false teachings in Christianity and named several major ministry leaders. Trinity Broadcasting Network halted broadcast of a Van Impe program over it, and Van Impe decided to take his broadcasting elsewhere.

"I Will Not Be Silenced! I will not allow anyone to tell me what I can and cannot preach," Van Impe said in a statement when TBN would not allow his program to air.

"When I see heretical teaching leading to apostasy, I will speak out," he said. "The Bible says 'All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:' (II Timothy 3:16). The Apostle Paul also gives instructions in Titus 1:9-11, 13 'Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers … Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake…Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.'"

Van Impe said he immediately called his media agents and told them, "I no longer wanted to air my program on Trinity Broadcasting Network; we will take the tremendous amount of money that we were spending there to obtain new stations that will allow us to continue to reach every square mile of America with the truths of the Bible without this network."

The dispute arose over the issue of advocating for "Chrislam" and other efforts that are designed to find "common ground" between Christians and Muslims. TBN declined to air one of Van Impe's programs that contained sharp criticisms of leaders such as Rick Warren of "The Purpose Driven Life" fame and Robert Schuller.

In a statement from Van Impe Ministries, Executive Director Ken Vancil said his organization rejected an effort by TBN to reinstate the programming and would work to develop alternative broadcast outlets where they were needed.

"We would not be able to minister effectively if we had to look over our shoulder wondering if a program was going to be censored because of mentioning a name," Vancil said. "While there is hurt over this incident, we hold no animosity towards TBN. Dr. Van Impe has often expressed his appreciation to Paul and Jan (Crouch, of TBN) and all that they have accomplished."

But he confirmed that Paul Crouch Sr. continued to "caution" him "regarding Dr. Van Impe's naming of names and publicly rebuking ministers and their teachings."

Other ministries have voiced criticism similar to Van Impe's.

Joe Schimmel, senior pastor of Blessed Hope Chapel in Southern California and chief of the Good Fight Ministries, openly has questioned whether church leaders are affirming Allah.

Schimmel, who is best known for "They Sold Their Souls for Rock n Roll," which exposes satanic influences behind much of yesterday and today's popular music and how it negatively influences youth, suggested in a WND column, "Could it be that we are witnessing the formation of the prophesied one-world religion under the Antichrist? (Revelation 13:1-18) "

He cited Brian McLaren of the emerging church movement, who planned for an Islamic Ramadan celebration. And he mentioned Warren's agreement to address the Islamic Society of North America, which "the Department of Justice categorized two years ago as a co-conspirator in financing a foreign terrorist group!"

"Even more chilling is the fact that over 300 prominent Christian leaders signed a letter issued by the Yale Center for Faith and Culture claiming that world peace is dependent on Muslims and Christians recognizing 'Allah' and 'Yahweh' as the same God. This letter, titled 'Loving God and Neighbor Together,' was written in response to a signed document by 138 Muslim leaders titled 'A Common Word Between Us and You.' McLaren, Warren, Robert Schuller and Bill Hybels were just several of the signatories to this outright betrayal of Christ!" he said.

TBN previously had a conflict over its intolerance for criticism of Islam. It was in 2006 when Hal Lindsey, WND columnist and one of the world's most popular non-fiction authors, clashed with the network because TBN wanted him to soften his views on Muslims. Lindsey refused.

Now, Religion in the News, a report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media. This week’s item is from The New York Times, July 21, 2008, with a headline: “McCain and Obama Agree to Attend Mega-Church Forum” The following are excerpts: It has taken a man of God, perhaps, to do what nobody else has been able to do since the general election season began: get Barack Obama and John McCain together on the same stage before their party conventions later this summer. Rick Warren, the author of the best selling book, The Purpose Driven Life said he had called each man personally to invite him to his event, which will focus on how they make decisions, and on some of Mr. Warren’s main areas of focus, like AIDS, poverty and the environment. Mr. Warren’s event will have as a co-sponsor, Faith in Public Life, the multi-denominational religious group that held a compassion forum at MessiahCollegein April, featuring Mr. Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Mr. Warren said he would devise his questions with input from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders associated with the group.

Tom:

Dave, what could be wrong with that? I mean, you have a pastor who certainly no other pastor, probably in the country, in the world could have two presidential candidates comes to their church to speak to their congregation. But what might be wrong with that?

Dave:

Well, Tom, what could be wrong with it? This is the…I don’t know…is this the proper event for a church, is it to show people which side to vote on? But we’ve got a sponsor here, Tom that this is disturbing to me, but you know more about them than I do.

Tom:

Well, Dave, you know, it was a leading question for you, but there are some great concerns that we have, which is why we are addressing this story. First of all, as people know, Rick Warren’s agenda is what he calls his P.E.A.C.E. plan.

Dave:

Right.

Tom:

And he’s been involved for almost 4 years now in trying to solve many of the world’s problems, poverty, disease, climate; he’s now a part of the Christian group that’s trying to deal with global warming.

Dave:

Can I just interject here, Tom? All winter long I was trying to get friends to organize and plead with Al Gore: Please call off this global warming, it is freezing us to death! We’ve had the coldest winter, and now we’ve got the coolest summer. I’m thankful for his global warming now!

Tom:

Yeah. Well, Dave, that’s one small part of it, and we know that Mr. Warren is sincere about the issues of solving the world’s problems. And of course he learned from Peter Druker, who he calls his mentor, who Druker, a social scientist, said that the world’s problems can’t be solved by governments, it can’t be solved by corporations, but it can be solved by churches because there is a church on every corner—there’s a place of worship in every village. And if we can bring all the religions of the world to cooperate, then we can solve these issues. Dave, that’s the social gospel, it’s not new to Christianity. In this country, the 1800’s, the turn of the century, early 1900’s, this was a promotion by Christians to show that we are involved, that we want to get involved, and so on. But what’s the problem with that?

Dave:

Well, now we’re back to, “…hath God said?” Because how do you get all these different religions? It’s not just denomination actually, but Rick will work with anybody, he’ll work with the Muslims, because they’re part of people of faith, you see, they have a faith. Anybody that has a so-called faith, we’ll get them all together, but they have different ideas of this. But we can kind of scrap those and set those aside, and now we will all work together on this very important project.

Tom:

Well, Faith in Public Life, that’s the name of the organization that is co-sponsoring Obama and McCain at SaddlebackChurch.

Dave:

Tell me about their faith.

Tom:

Well, the board president, a woman named Meg Riley; she’s a Unitarian Universalist minister. Now prior to taking this position, she headed up the Denominations Advocacy Office of Gay, Lesbian and Bi-sexual Concerns. Now if you go down the list of the board of directors you find mainly women, certainly the men you won’t find a biblical Christian among them. Their ideas, their concepts, their theology is anti-biblical to the max. So this is a co-sponsor now at SaddlebackChurchwith Rick Warren presenting this social gospel.

Dave:

So how does Rick justify this? Why would he have this co-sponsored, does he not know who they are?

Tom:

Well, you’ve said before that you believe that Rick is sincere, but Dave, I believe there’s a simple problem here. The social gospe–the best it can do is deal with symptoms, right? The symptoms, I mean, poverty, disease and all these things are symptoms of what? The sinful nature of man.

Dave:

Well, Tom, the problem is the symptoms are about this earth, they are mainly physical, these are all physical things. There is no truth in this, and there’s no way that you’re going to solve the problems of the world without changing the heart of man.

Tom:

Right. Now see, Rick claims that this is his first priority, I can quote you. He says, “It’s to proclaim the gospel truth of salvation in Jesus Christ.” Now how does that work when he’s got this follow-up inner-faith meeting with 30 Christians, Jewish and Muslim leaders? Is he going to present Christ as the way, the truth and the life?

Dave:

Absolutely not.

Tom:

It would torpedo his agenda, the program.

Dave:

Right, so you cannot possibly carry on his P.E.A.C.E. program to solve poverty and disease, and so forth all over the world, bringing all of these people together who have different beliefs. Oh they are people of faith, they have some kind of a faith, but you cannot possibly do it, it’s doomed from the very beginning.

Tom:

Dave, it reminds me of the words of Jesus. Now I want to paraphrase this, so I am paraphrasing, but look at it this way. What shall it profit people of faith if they solve all the problems of the world, yet lose their own souls!

High-energy electric pulses from the sun could surge to Earth and cripple our electrical grid for years, causing billions in damages, government officials and scientists worry.

The House is so concerned that the Energy and Commerce committee voted unanimously 47 to 0 to approve a bill allocating $100 million to protect the energy grid from this rare but potentially devastating occurrence.

The Grid Reliability and Infrastructure Defense Act, or H.R. 5026, aims "to amend the Federal Power Act to protect the bulk-power system and electric infrastructure critical to the defense of the United States against cybersecurity and other threats and vulnerabilities."

It cites electromagnetic pulses from geomagnetic or solar storms as the big threat to our energy distribution grid, and demands "an order directing the Electric Reliability Organization to submit … reliability standards adequate to protect the bulk-power system from any reasonably foreseeable geomagnetic storm event."

Solar storms occur when sunspots on our star erupt and spew out flumes of charged particles that can damage power systems. The sun's activity typically follows an 11-year cycle, and it looks to be coming out of a slump and gearing up for an active period.

"The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity," said Richard Fisher, head of NASA's Heliophysics Division. "At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms."

Fisher and other experts met Tuesday at the Space Weather Enterprise Forum to discuss the intersection of these two issues, and ways to protect society from nature's wrath.

A major solar storm could cause 20 times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina, the National Academy of Sciences warned in a 2008 report, "Severe Space Weather Events—Societal and Economic Impacts."

And the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, while pointing out that "these risks are rare, and in some cases have never occurred," is nonetheless very concerned about the reality of geomagnetic events.

It a recently released report, NERC cited recent analysis by Metatech and Storm Analysis Consultants that suggests "the potential extremes of the geomagnetic threat environment may be much greater than previously anticipated. Geomagnetically induced currents on system infrastructure have the potential to result in widespread tripping of key transmission lines and irreversible physical damage to large transformers."

It's the fear of an EMP, specifically a high-altitude pulse caused by a solar event, that has Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) worried.

“It would cost about $100 million to protect the grid from EMP," he said in a speech at the House. "The consequences of inaction are dire. If our grid is destroyed by EMP, the National Academies warn it would cost us between $1 trillion and $2 trillion in damages and take four to 10 years to recover.”

Next week National Geographic Explorer will air a special on the topic, which warns that the risk also comes from terrorists. In "Electronic Armageddon," Explorer asks the viewer to "picture an instantaneous deathblow to the vital engines that power our society — delivered by a weapon specifically designed NOT to kill humans, but to kill electronics."

While predicting the odds of a nuclear HEMP attack from terrorist groups are less certain, most experts agree that another source of an EMP, the sun, is imminent,” the show warns.